Premium Wines | 2001 Shiraz

Robert M. Parker, The Wine Advocate – Issue 138, 92 points

One of McLaren Vale's top growers, Don Oliver has cropped these shiraz at extremely small yields of 1.5 tons of fruit per acre. Winemaker Corrina Rayment (daughter of Colin Rayment from Kays, the famed McLaren Vale winery known for their old vine shiraz) has fashioned a 2001 Shiraz that may be controversial given its fragrant Cotes du Rhone-like nose of damp earth, ground pepper and composty black cherry and currant notes with a touch of licorice and truffles in the background. The complex aromatics are followed by dense, medium to full-bodied, ripe, opulently-styled wine. Although evolved and forward, it is beautifully balanced and capable of another 7-8 years of top flight drinking.